Between Faith and Fear

by J. A. Dennam

  Derek squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to clear his vision. “Because you weren’t kept like the rest of us. Never knew where you were half the time.”

  The lighter was tossed aside and a thin ribbon of smoke curled toward the low ceiling. Crystal inhaled deeply then held both palms up with an impish, cockeyed smile. “Welcome to my humble abode.”

  It was a windowless room with four white walls, but there were personal belongings scattered across every surface. A computer station looked to be where she spent most of her time. “Special treatment?” he asked.

  When she turned back to face him, she had a strawberry wisp between her teeth. “What makes you say that?” She pulled off a piece of the candy and chewed noisily. “The electrical room’s right next door. Aside from giving me cancer some day, the transformer hums like a bitch constantly. Drives me crazy.”

  He fought back a smile. “You should have seen my sleeping quarters.”

  She waved fingers tipped with short, unpolished nails. “I know all about it. Rafferty thought it necessary due to the nature of your recruitment.”

  “Bad call,” he replied and settled his gaze on the ceiling as an aromatic combination of spice and wood smoke flooded his nose.

  Crystal moved to his bedside, peered down at him. “So. You’re saying if he and Sophie treated you better we’d still be one big happy family?” When he didn’t answer, she shook her head knowingly. “Didn’t think so.”

  The bed creaked with her slight weight as she sat next to him. She bit off another piece of candy and leaned over him, tracing his bandage with a finger. “When you didn’t come back, I wondered why. I even hated you for it. What part about your new life didn’t you like? They completely healed you in a way no one else could have. I mean, let’s face it. Even shot and half-dead, you look,” she sucked air through her teeth, “pretty damned hot with those washboard abs of yours.”

  Cute. “I’m a drug addict.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, boohoo. We all are. At least you got laid on a periodic basis.”

  Great. “Sophie got laid.” He tugged on his bonds to prove a point. “I got rope burn.”

  Crystal polished off the wisp and rubbed her fingers on her pants. “She wasn’t a bad looking woman. The guys were envious of you... even though your wrists bled every time you emerged from her suite.”

  “No one wondered why?”

  A plucked eyebrow arced upward. “They assumed you two were into kink. Guess I was the only one who knew differently, I just didn’t know why.” Her hand strayed south and she now traced the bulge beneath his pants. “All guys like getting their dick tugged on.”

  When he failed to respond to her touch, her lower lip came out. “By the right woman,” he explained. “Not a syringe-packing scientist with a cruel streak.”

  Disappointment snuffed out some of her spark. Derek marveled at how strong he’d become since having Melanie back in his life. The very thought of her gave him the necessary tools to show this little bitch she had no control over him.

  “Okay,” Crystal said. “I get it. Forced sex isn’t your thing. But there are no bills to pay here. No taxes or bureaucratic bullshit. We get food, shelter, clothing, training, purpose...”

  “Sounds like you want a good babysitter.”

  Now she straightened her spine and pushed off the bed as she indicated the fresh needle mark on his inner arm. “I just gave you two pints of blood. You could be a little nicer.”

  Shit, he completely missed that. “Why? You’re just going to turn me in. Isn’t that why you brought me back here? Tied me up to this bed?”

  “Shhh.”

  Crystal went completely still as she stood beside him. He heard it, too. Someone was close by, approaching the door of her basement quarters.

  Chapter 28

  With a burst of speed, Crystal turned out the lamp by the bed and threw a dark blanket over him. Derek raised his head, watched her strip down to her underwear. The outline of her breasts bulged thickly against the contrasting skeletal ribs at her sides.

  When there was a knock on her door, she yelled, “hold on!” and wrapped a towel around her midsection. Then she pulled the door open a bare crack.

  “What do you want?”

  Derek recognized Angelo’s voice. “Floyd is ordering all ghosts and trainees to report to the courtyard in ten.”

  “I was about to hop in the shower.”

  “Shower later.”

  She chewed her lower lip. “Do you know what this is about?”

  “Rafferty’s been compromised. He and River haven’t reported back. There may be a breach in security so we’re regrouping. Just in case.”

  Her first attempt to close the door failed when Angelo put his shoulder into it. There were a few seconds of silence. Derek couldn’t see beyond the door, but he knew Angelo was suspicious. He held his breath, dared not move.

  Finally, Angelo said, “Ten minutes.”

  Crystal’s hand slipped from the knob. “Well, I’m not going like this.”

  “Just hurry.”

  When Derek saw the door shut, he let out a deep, pent up breath. Crystal dropped the towel along with all traces of modesty and reached for her athletic bra. The woman was so small and thin; one couldn’t help but focus on the full white lobes of her bosom. Finally, she covered them as the clothes went back on.

  Derek blinked back his surprise. “You’re hiding me? Why?”

  She caught him looking, didn’t even blush as she tightened the strings of her waistband. “I guess you could say I’ve experienced a few disturbing epiphanies of my own today.”

  That could be good. “Okay... now that I’m feeling a little better, mind letting me go?”

  “Yes, I do mind.”

  Her shower reference meant the darkened door behind her was most likely a bathroom. This woman really did get special treatment because of her sex. “What if I have to take a leak?”

  “Hold it until I get back,” she said distractedly as she powered down her laptop.

  Derek knew if he let her walk away, she’d return in a killing mood. He wanted more time to appeal to her humane side while it still breathed. “Can I at least make a phone call?”

  Her answering laugh was almost impolite.

  Yeah, that’s what he thought. “What are you going to do, Crystal? Keep me here while you decide my future?”

  She came back with attitude. “Do you think I’m going to let you bring the roof down on us all while I try to decide mine?”

  The caution was smart on her part, but didn’t bode well for him. “What’s the decision? Either jump now or go down with the ship.”

  Crystal popped into view armed with her knife and threw a leg up. “And if I let you go, you won’t kill me the first chance you get?”

  He watched her secure the sheath to her calve while her weapon gleamed on the bed beside him. “No.”

  Her brow rose. “How many of us have you killed today?”

  “Only those who have given me a reason to.”

  “I’m not stupid, Bennett. The only way you can survive after this is if you exterminate us one...” she took the knife into her hand, pointed it at his nose, “by one.”

  Without flinching, he held her impish gaze. “So, give me a reason not to. If you want to cut ties with IGP, that’s something I can relate to. We can help each other. All you have to do is make up your mind and stick with the decision.”

  But her mind was already made up. She flipped the knife and sheathed it in one fluid movement. “I’m going up to the courtyard. My decision will be made by the time I get back.”

  She blew him a kiss on her way out. The door locked shut and he was left with burning incense and a lot on his mind.

  Crap. He was as good as dead. Nothing was more stimulating than a ghost rally. He tested the ropes at his wrists and ankles, knowing that when Crystal came back she’d kill him. He had to get out and now would be his only chance. Just as he thought it, Crystal instantly reappeared
with her hood pulled down low.

  As she collected herself against the closed door, Derek noticed the unsteady rise and fall of her chest.

  “What’s wrong?”

  The answer came immediately and not without fear. “Angelo’s dead.”

  Which meant someone killed him shortly after he left her door. But who? Derek watched her silently from his darkened corner of the room. He sensed she also watched him beneath the hood.

  “His head was bashed in,” she said finally. “I heard a dog.”

  Chewie, perhaps? Given the nature of his last encounter with Ty, Derek didn’t know whether or not the dog’s presence was a good thing. “The great ghost hunter,” he rasped, figuring a good psyche couldn’t hurt. “Better surrender now while you can.”

  Crystal swept back the hood and pushed off the door. “All I have to do is create a diversion.”

  “You gonna throw out a raw steak?” he threw back as she disappeared into the bathroom.

  When she reemerged, it was with a bundle held closely to her chest. The cream-colored towel in her arms fell back, revealing a small, pudgy face, eyes closed in sleep. “I’ll give him what he’s looking for.”

  DJ! The urge to tear through ropes was never stronger as Derek watched a ghost handle his son. What the fuck? “Ty, you lying son of a bitch!”

  Crystal hesitated on her way back to his side, blinked and smiled. “You are smokin’ hot when you’re tied up and angry. Now I see why Sophie played with her food before she ate it.”

  But he was in no mood for jokes. “What did you do to him? Is he alive?”

  “He’s just been sedated. I removed his tracking device, he’ll be fine.”

  His tracking device? “Prove it. Bring him to me.”

  Crystal walked over to the bed and sat down. She leaned over, rested the bundle next to Derek’s head. He looked closely at his son’s face, felt the warm air as it left his little nostrils. The boy had been beyond that wall this whole time and hadn’t made a sound. He was alive. But in what condition would he be when he awoke?

  Fear and fierce paternal love washed through him... a volatile combination that rocked his very core. Leaning closer, he inhaled DJ’s scent, touched foreheads and closed his eyes. The skin-to-skin contact offered assurance. “Please don’t hurt him.” It was the closest to begging he’d ever come.

  Crystal’s creamy complexion flooded pink with anger. “I saved him. Rafferty was about to snap his neck. Something about that struck a nerve with me.”

  Thank God! But if Rafferty was able to get a hold of DJ, what did that mean for the rest of them? Ty had done more than betray him; he’d lied through his teeth. Now, his only hope seemed to rest with the female ghost who still teetered over the precipice of right and wrong. “It sounds like your decision has already been made. You saved my son, Crystal. Let me take him out of here and I promise you won’t have any problems from me.”

  The vow didn’t sway her much. Her finger lightly skimmed down DJ’s bulbous cheek. “You can barely walk. You’ll kill him if you try.”

  “If Chewie’s out there, that means my friends are closing in and they’re killing ghosts who get in their way of finding him.”

  “Then I won’t get in their way.” She reached over, grabbed a roll of duck tape and tore off a piece. “But I’m keeping you a little longer. As insurance.”

  ____________

  It was almost as if they were moving through the catacombs of Rome. Instead of heading upstairs, Chewie had led them deep into the basement. At first she thought he may be following Austin and Danny, but she was convinced otherwise when they failed to catch up with them.

  Some hallways were lit, some weren’t, but the shadows seemed to stretch tens of yards at a time. And the shadows were what Melanie feared most. Despite the bravery of her male companions. Despite Chewie’s gifted nose. Despite Mac’s accuracy with a thrown hammer.

  It was hard not to see her roommate and business partner in an entirely different light. The day before, children took turns climbing him while he obediently played the mountain in the cartoon they’d all just watched. Now he was throwing hammers without so much as a trace of guilt. As soon as Chewie had silently alerted them to the dangers ahead, they’d all been ready for the ghost who materialized out of the darkness. When the black shape lay dormant on the ground, Mac retrieved his gore-coated hammer and wiped it on the unfortunate man’s black uniform. He’d caught her gaping at him as he stood back up and his mouth had curved down with determination. “You gave one hell of a speech back there, Mel,” he explained, causing a blush to creep up her neck.

  Melanie’s brief flashback ended just as Chewie stopped at a point between two open entries. “He’s all over the place right here,” she whispered. “He must be confused or lost the scent.”

  Mac ran a hand over his mustache. “He could be picking up Boss and Danny.”

  Ty, hands on hips, watched his dog with concern. “Could be. Mac, why don’t you take the room to the left and we’ll go right.”

  Mac’s eyes narrowed on the man before they fell on her. “You okay with that?”

  Melanie nodded. “Yes. Just be careful.”

  But Mac didn’t look too happy about it. He pointed a finger. “Don’t fuck up, Ferguson. I still don’t know you well enough to spare your pretty face if you let something happen to her.”

  Ty gave a short nod and pulled her with him almost as a slight to the man. As soon as they were out of earshot, Ty asked, “Do you still have the sample Sophie gave you?”

  Chewie sniffed around some old cafeteria equipment. “Yes,” she answered, her flashlight gleaming off of stainless steel.

  “There are a lot of people in this building who want it.” He held out a hand. “Maybe you should let me hang on to it, just in case.”

  “No one knows I have it. It was just you, me and Derek in that lab when Sophie gave it to me.”

  “She gave it to you with the hope you’ll help Rena.”

  Melanie made a sound of disgust. “Rena can go to hell.”

  Ty gently took her by the arm and tilted his head in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

  She jerked her arm out of his hold. “None of this would have happened if it weren’t for her! And now that Derek is gone, I could care less who the hell suffers!”

  “Did you ever think that maybe Rena had a good reason to do what she did?”

  “Nope. Don’t know and don’t care.”

  “Then you won’t mind if I take the sample.”

  Melanie backed up a step. “And what will you do with it?”

  Ty stared her down. “Carry out Sophie’s wishes. I’ll find Rena and get her the help she needs.”

  Since when did he care so much about a woman who clearly hated his guts? “She needs to be back in that psych ward,” Melanie retorted hotly.

  “What if she doesn’t?” he fired back just as heatedly.

  Chewie began to whimper at their feet.

  “It doesn’t matter!” Melanie hissed. “Half the country is looking for her, if you tie yourself to her escape in any way, you’ll be thrown in prison, too. You’ll lose everything! Did you ever think of that?”

  But none of that seemed to faze him and he moved toward her threateningly. “Give me the sample.”

  She maintained the distance. “No!”

  “Well, well,” a different voice added to the argument. “Seems I’ve stumbled upon an interesting situation.”

  Melanie jumped and they both finally noticed that Chewie was on point and growling.

  “Who’s there?”

  “It’s Elsa,” Ty answered, and gave his dog the signal to stand down.

  A dark shape emerged from the shadows. A small ghost whose uniform fit much better than Melanie’s. In its arms was a bundle of cloth with a chubby little leg dangling loosely from the bottom.

  “DJ!” Melanie tried to dash forward, but Ty held her back.

  “It’s not Elsa anymore,” the feminine voice said tightly ben
eath the hood. “It’s Crystal. And I’d like to hear more about this sample Sophie gave you.”

  “Give me my son first.”

  Ty held his arm between them. “Don’t give him to her yet.”

  Melanie’s jaw dropped as she looked at him in horror. “What did you say?”

  He didn’t hesitate to repeat it. “Hand over the sample and you’ll get DJ back.”

  Everything in her brain revolted. What the hell was he doing? “Are you one of them, Ty? Was Rena right about you?”

  “I’m doing this for Rena. I’m doing it for you, too.”

  Melanie looked at the ghost holding her baby. The hood moved with a nod.

  “You heard him,” the woman said. “The baby for the sample. And you better hurry while the other ghosts are still out of earshot.”

  Though she loathed giving anything to them, there was no arguing what was more important to Melanie. She dug the bullet from her pocket and threw it at Ty with all her might. He caught it against his chest and held her accusatory gaze with a mixture of hurt and anger.

  “Did you really do everything you could,” she asked, her voice shaking with wrath. “Or did you just let him slip away?”

  The hurt quickly dissolved from his face, leaving only anger. “How can you accuse me of something like that?”

  “How can you use DJ against me?”

  “Between the two of us, I’m the one trying to save lives!” Ty held up the bullet between thumb and forefinger. “This isn’t just something you throw around, Melanie, it’s a possible cure for a very serious, very prominent illness that affects millions of people! And I won’t let you use it against Rena because that would make you no better than Sophie!”

  The last of his reprimand was delivered like a slap in the face. Chewie pranced and whined at the feet of his master as Melanie stood speechless. Ty took that moment to retrieve DJ from Crystal’s arms and hand him back to his mother with utmost care.

  “Now, get him out of here before--”

  There was a tremendous impact as Mac came from nowhere and t-boned Crystal with a game winning tackle.

  The woman slammed headfirst into a steel cart and lay dormant on the floor.